30JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Faustina Terminal, St. James, LA and Mississippi Delta, enr to Tampa, FL;

Events: Spent the 1^st watch shadowing the lead tankerman doing some small repair work on a few tools and eventually taking a wire wheel to some rust spots the previous crew busted up while I was off the boat. I spent the 2^nd watch with the lead tankerman going over how to log my loads and discharges and the various different logs they keep in on the barge related to transfers.

Things learned about vessel/barge: How to fill out a Load/Discharge book, logs.

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops 1 loading and discharging of product

Supplemental Information: Using that wire wheel this mornings really felt like polishing someone else’s turds, the quality of work of the chipping was pretty sad. A lesson to hold is that in any industry, folks who are well settled into their jobs and with no ambition to advance or been seen excelling will only do the bare minimum of effort to pass the day. I don’t blame them, but it makes me somewhat irritated when I have to do extra work on same projects just to make sure that my work doesn’t look like garbage.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel, River Traffic Stand-On and Give-Way vessels

29JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Faustina Terminal, St. James, LA;

Events: Flew into NOLA at 0930 this morning, met up with the rest of the oncoming crew and drove up to meet the boat at St. James. We arrived at the terminal just as the boat was tying off, so I went and deposited my gear in my room and headed back out to the barge to help with hooking up to the terminal even though I didn’t come on watch till 1800. The 2^nd watch was spent reacclimating to the schedule and monitoring the transfer.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Nothing new.

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops 1 loading and discharging of product

Supplemental Information: Much as I’m not a fan of the schedule, I am glad to be back on the boat. It’s good the be back working (honestly, I was getting kinda broke) and getting seatime and training. I’m told we will be headed to dry dock soon for a while, it seems the inspection we had last month on delayed the trip by a month, not 6 months like I had believed. I should be able to get the last few loads and discharges I need to completely apply for my Tankerman ticket this trip, but I’m not sure how being at drydock will affect my seatime accrual.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed (unless you count getting through TSA)

12JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Faustina Terminal, St. James, LA;

Events: Got up early and helped the backwatch connect up to the terminal and begin the transfer. After that the A/B Tankerman and I put down some sealant on the chipped spots on the barge deck until it was time for me to head home.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Nothing new.

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops 1 loading and discharging of product

Supplemental Information: Bye Felicia! See ya’ll in 2 weeks!

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed (unless you count I-10)

11JUN2018

Location: Mississippi River Delta en route St. James, LA;

Events: during the 1^st watch I managed to finally finish chipping the forward wench and a few areas on the barge deck as we entered the delta. The 2^nd watch was mostly spent cruising up the river and doing pre-arrival checks.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Nothing new.

Classroom information application(s): Nothing Specific.

Supplemental Information: Getting off the boat tomorrow is a big boost to morale for me and one of the A/B Tankermen, I’m driving a rental car back to Houston which is fine by me.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel, River Traffic Stand-On and Give-Way vessels

10JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico south of Mobile, AL and en route St. James, LA;

Events: Spent 4 hours straight of the 1^st watch needlegunning the forward wench, completing all of the inner area and about half of the final outside wall on the starboard side. I should be able to get the other half and the feet knocked out tomorrow morning. The 2^nd watch was general vessel maintenance and rounds, generally a low-key shift.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Nothing new.

Classroom information application(s): Nothing Specific.

Supplemental Information: Man, this wench is consuming my time, considering about 90% of it was rusted out. I’ll have put almost 15 hours into it by the tie its done I estimate. We should be at the river tomorrow morning sometime around 10am, and St. James in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I’m fantasizing about getting off there, but more likely I’ll have to ride back to Tampa and get off Friday.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed.

09JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Terminal, Tampa, FL and departing for St. James, LA;

Events: Towards the end of the 1^st watch the pump repairmen showed up and began the process of taking the old, broken pump shaft out and installing the new one. Everyone says they have never seen a shaft break in that way before, so the cause is still unknown. The 2^nd watch was spent completing the discharge, disconnecting from the terminal, and getting flipped around by a harbor tug so we could head back out to sea. The lead tankerman again let me have a longer reign to complete the transfer operations.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Continued transfer operations.

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops 1 loading and discharging of product

Supplemental Information: The repairs went very smoothly which was a blessed relief considering the unusual nature of the break. Tomorrow is back the needlegunning that forward wench which I want to have finished before I get off this boat in the next few days.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Crossing and Passing in a Channel.

08JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Terminal, Tampa, FL;

Events: About an hour before the 1^st watch the barge’s port #2 pump shaft broke stopping all transfer operations. The cause is unknown, but the office is rebuilding one in the warehouse then driving it 18 hours from Houston to us here in Tampa. I spent some time tinkering on the needleguns and trying to find or build some better hose fittings but didn’t have much luck with either. The 2^nd watch was just sitting on standby until the new equipment gets here.

Things learned about vessel/barge:  How to disassemble and reassemble a needlegun.

Classroom information application(s): Nothing Specific.

Supplemental Information: Well if it isn’t one thing on this barge, its another, I swear. It seems like every time we transfer or load, something goes wrong. I was concerned that the pump shaft breaking was my fault, as I took lead on the hook up and start-up procedures, but after talking with the lead tankerman and one of the mates my concerns were assuaged that I was not to blame. Hopefully we will know more when the parts arrive, whenever that will be, but either way we are stuck here for a fair while longer.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed.

07JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico South of Pensacola, FL, and Mosaic Terminal, Tampa, FL;

Events: Spent the 1^st watch working on chipping the forward barge wench again but had to spend a large amount of time repairing and replacing air hose fittings and battling a needlegun that was leaking air. We got to the sea buoy around 3pm and the docks around 7:30pm, shortly into the 2^nd watch. The lead tankerman let me take charge of initiating this discharge, helping me through the steps needed to set up the barge and connect the hose to the terminal.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Greater understanding and interaction with discharge systems and working with two cranes simultaneously

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops 1 loading and discharging of product

Supplemental Information: This needle gun is beginning to vex the shit out of me. I’m using two borrowed ones and the one that was working good for me yesterday is now just bypassing air through the gun and the other one is doing it intermittently which is significantly prolonging the amount of time doing this task. I did teach myself how to take apart and rebuild hose fittings though, and I’m going to do the same to the needleguns later on.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Crossing and Passing in a Channel.

06JUN2018

Location: Chevron USA Terminal Pascagoula, MS and Gulf of Mexico South Mobile, AL en route to Tampa, FL;

Events: We got underway just before the 1^st watch, leaving the just the lines to be hauled in and stowed for us as we transited out of Pascagoula. The weather was fair, so we got back to chipping the forward barge containment area and, after replacing a faulty air hose fitting, got several good hours in. The 2^nd watch was back to easy time, monitoring the barge and some floor stripping and waxing on the boat.

Things learned about vessel/barge:  Where air hose parts are and how to replace them and repair a line.

Classroom information application(s): Nothing Specific.

Supplemental Information: Today has been a good day, got some solid progress done on the wench, though it’s still got a long way to go. We chased the foul weather out of Pascagoula and thankfully didn’t catch up to it.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel.

05JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico South of Mobile, AL en route to Tampa, FL and Chevron USA Terminal Pascagoula, MS;

Events: Foul weather beset us the entire 1^st watch and the transfer process didn’t start until well into the back watch so not much was accomplished while we transited into Pascagoula, MS. The 2^nd watch was quiet, just monitoring the transfer and assisting the A/B Tankerman with breaking down the fuel transfer line and equipment from the fuel barge that came along side to fill our boat and barge.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Where the fuel hose and related equipment are stowed.

Classroom information application(s): Cargo Ops transfer procedures.

Supplemental Information: Not too much going on today, the highlight for me was during the night shift when I got the be the rigger for the lead tankerman who was operating the crane, lifting two 50-gallon drums of hydraulic fluid onto the upper housing of the barge pump room.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel.

04JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico South of Pensacola, FL and en route to Pascagoula, MS;

Events: The 1^st watch we got to chipping and chiseling in the barge’s forward containment areas, I worked on the forward, #1 wench which is in terrible shape. Couldn’t sleep long so I got up early for the 2^nd watch and ended up helping the back watch finish putting the new chain on the aft, #3 wench.

Things learned about vessel/barge: The barge air compressor doesn’t have a regulator while the boat’s one does.

Classroom information application(s): Nothing Specific.

Supplemental Information: Got some good work in this morning, though by the state of the wench, it doesn’t look like much.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed.

03JUN2018

Location: Mosaic Terminal Tampa, FL and en route to Pascagoula, MS;

Events: The 1^st watch was just monitoring the discharge process and setting up some air hoses for chipping work the next few days. I couldn’t sleep well so I got up early for my 2^nd watch to assist the back watch complete the transfer and cast-off lines to get underway.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Terminal connections for different terminals.

Classroom information application(s): Seamanship 1 line handling.

Supplemental Information: Today was pretty quiet, I’d glad I got up early enough to get the discharge in. Tomorrow we start chipping the forward barge wench and tank vent containment areas. It’ll be hot and arduous, but with 3 of us working on it, it should move swiftly.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel

02JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico, south of Pensacola, FL and pulling into Tampa, FL;

Events: During the 1^st watch, the lead tankerman and I began replacing some worn out safety chains on the barge handrails. During lunch we had an engine room fire drill, rolled out all the hoses and charged them up. We pulled into Tampa early into the 2^nd watch and prepared to tie up at the terminal and while trying to run out a breast line, the drive chain on the aft, #3 barge wench busted, much to the chagrin of the lead tankerman. We didn’t have a way to repair or replace it so we had to use a soft line tie off instead.

Things learned about vessel/barge: Barge familiarization.

Classroom information application(s): Seamanship 1 STCW.

Supplemental Information: The guys back on the boat caught a 5 ft. wahoo during the afternoon, which was a source of some cheer as it had been the 1^st one caught in 2 years.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? Passing and Crossing in a Channel

01JUN2018

Location: Gulf of Mexico, south of Mobile, AL en route to Tampa, FL;

Events: During the 1^st watch the lead tankerman and I cracked open the forward capstans inspection plate to try and identify where the leaking fluid was coming from. The basin was full of about 3 gallons of water and hydraulic fluid residue, and we found a small hydraulic line sitting in there, unconnected from anything. After some testing and investigating, we could not confirm the source of the leaking fluid but thought it may be coming from inside the capstan barrel itself, which is a whole nother monster to tackle. The 2^nd watch was low key, we didn’t have any tasking for the night.

Things learned about vessel/barge: How to inspect and service a capstan

Classroom information application(s): Engineering Familiarization

Supplemental Information: It was a pretty easy day, kind of bummed we couldn’t deduce what the issue was with the capstan, we will be keeping an eye on it when we dock up in Tampa tomorrow.

Rules of the Road Scenarios? None Observed.